VEN – Good News on Climate Action – Blog
Clearly cool: A transparent paper-based material could replace single-use plastics
The millimeter-thick paperboard behaves just like plastic; it’s strong, transparent, shapeable—and can hold boiling water. But it degrades within a year on the ocean floor. By Anthropocene Team April 16, 2025 Close to 2 million metric tons of plastic enters the oceans every year from beaches and waterways, according to The Ocean Cleanup Project. Much of that plastic is single-use beverage…
Read MoreAustralia could replace carbon-intensive coal and gas exports with green iron and quadruple earnings, a report says, but only if it makes changes.
Australia urged to spend big while green iron is hot Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson AAP in InDailySA May 26, 2025 Hydrogen and Green Steel production : produced using renewable energy resources rather than coal or gas. https://e9a474fd0dc6ff902be0d6938e923219.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-45/html/container.html Australia has a unique opportunity to trade its dirty coal and gas industry for cleaner green iron market and make four…
Read MoreLiberals conscious of importance of climate action to electorate
Original title: A senior Liberal says net zero should be reconsidered following the election wipe-out Senior Liberal frontbenchers are blaming a number of reasons for Anthony Albanese and his Labor government smashing them at the May 3 election. Hannah Wilcox in abc news May 26, 2025 A senior Liberal is calling for the party to…
Read More1 tonne food waste recycled = 1 tonne carbon emission reduction
What if we turned the food waste problem on its head—and made it a climate solution? A new study finds that each tonne of food waste recycled, with existing technologies, would reduce carbon emissions by roughly a corresponding tonne. By Emma Bryce in Anthropocene April 11, 2025 One-third of all food produced for humans annually is…
Read MoreThe unusual inspiration for this energy-free cooling system is elephant skin
Mimicking the heat-regulating ability of an elephant’s skin, the bumpy fungus-based tiles improved cooling rates by as much as 70% compared to flat tiles. By Anthropocene Team April 10, 2025 Wrinkles on elephants make the gentle beasts look wise. But they also serve an important purpose: the crevices and the porous skin hold water and help…
Read MoreMajor reforms ease grid access for big wind, solar and batteries, and lay down rules for big data centres
Grid connections for major renewable and storage projects are about to get cheaper and easier, after the biggest overhaul of how energy projects hook into the National Energy Market (NEM) since 2018. Rachel Williamson May 22, 2025 POLICY & PLANNING in Renew Economy Connection rules are the highly technical standards that stipulate who can connect,…
Read MoreA more equitable ‘Rego Fee’ is the tool to share costs to society
Original title: Drivers of SUVs and pick-ups should pay more to be on our roads. Here’s how to make the system fairer Published: May 22, 2025 in The Conversation Author Disclosure statement Milad Haghani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and…
Read MoreA message from the president of Palau: how Australia can help it’s Pacific neigbours
We bear the brunt of the climate crisis. A Pacific COP could help shape the global response Surangel Whipps Jr Australia should also make moves to address the climate impact of its fossil fuel production and exports Thu 22 May 2025 in the Guardian Watching from the western Pacific, we saw many describe Australia’s recent…
Read MoreMarket Forces educates shareholders to hold Macquarie Group to account on net zero
Shareholders drag Macquarie over coals on net zero
Read MoreChance to fix Australia’s broken nature laws
Can Murray Watt fix Australia’s broken nature laws? First stop, Western Australia Published: May 20, 2025 Image: Environmental protection Bill card on Local Matters (LOMA) where you can encourage your representative to support the Bill Author Disclosure statement New federal Environment Minister Murray Watt is in Western Australia this week to reboot nature law reform. Reform stalledin the Senate last term,…
Read MoreEverything you need to know about Australia’s new home battery subsidy
From eligibility to cost, here’s how households and businesses can take advantage of the cheaper home batteries program Royce Kurmelovs Sat 17 May 2025 in The Guardian It’s not an overstatement to say Australians love solar power. Without batteries, though, households have struggled to take full advantage of their rooftop systems. Either they don’t capture all…
Read MoreParents for Climate Carbon greenwashing lawsuit makes EnergyAustralia set aside offsets
Community Groups bringing succesful lawsuits is a big step. Around the world the legal system is increasingly being used for climate justice.
Read MoreWhat behavioral strategies motivate climate action?
Figure: comparing behaviours to motivate climate action from Alyssa H. Sinclair, Danielle Cosme, Kirsten Lydic, Diego A. Reinero, José Carreras-Tartak, Michael E. Mann, Emily B. Falk. Behavioral interventions motivate action to address climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2025; 122 (20) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2426768122 A collaborative study tested 17 strategies in an ‘intervention…
Read MoreEPBC Act: What’s changing – and why it matters for renewable energy projects
Katharine Huxley May 12, 2025 Renew economy On March 26, 2025, the Parliament of Australia passed the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Reconsiderations) Bill 2025, changing how some environmental decisions can be reviewed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The Bill limits the power of the minister for the environment…
Read MoreRoss Garnaut: Labor’s historic victory could change global energy trade
Hydrogen is an elusive gas; making it from renewable energy is proving an elusive business. (ABC News) By business reporter Gareth Hutchens on abc news Sunday 11 May Labor’s historic election win means Australia has an opportunity to change the global energy trade. Ross Garnaut says this moment is significant. Four days after Labor’s historic…
Read MoreCorporate sustainability isn’t backing down – but was it really bold enough in the first place?
Image: Scope 1 and 2: Progress vs. Ambition, from PwC report Examining relative ambition against progress by industry sector reveals an interesting pattern. Companies with relatively more ambitious targets tend to be on track, while those that are taking a more conservative approach with targets also seem to be approaching their programs cautiously and are…
Read MoreWorried about the cost of electricity? No, they can afford it – but are more worried about carbon emissions and climate change – so the very high cost of energy transition is worth it.
Maps: Federal Election primary vote results by booth, based on Electoral Commission data, and reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. Above is Melbourne. Winning the suburbs is the key to winning elections. By Ross Elliott – posted Wednesday, 7 May 2025 in Online opinion There’s a great line from the comedy show Kath & Kim, where…
Read MoreEthical super fund says QBE ‘not joining the dots’ between fossil fuel projects and rising premiums
Image: Here’s how the fossil fuel barons who are raking in billions, are making you poorer. The burning of coal/gas ⬆️ global temps, that ⬆️ #climate catastrophes, that ⬆️ insurance costs, that ⬆️ CPI, that ⬆️ inflation, and ⬆️ mortgages. They profit, we pay. Comment: Dr Rhonda Garad @rhondagarad.bsky.social @RhondaGarad Guardian graphic Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Consumer Price Index,…
Read MoreThere are reasons to worry about AI – but it is already helping us protect the planet, too
Damian Carrington in The Guardian Down to Earth 8/5/25 When you think of artificial intelligence, you probably think of stupid answers provided by chatbots – why not try glueing cheese to pizza? – and its soaring electricity needs. In the background, though, AI is transforming our ability to deal with many of the world’s worst…
Read More‘All of his guns will do nothing for him’: lefty preppers are taking a different approach to doomsday
Aaron Gell Fri 18 Apr 2025 in The Guardian Liberals in the US make up about 15% of the prepping scene and their numbers are growing. Their fears differ from their better-known rightwing counterparts – as do their methods One afternoon in February, hoping to survive the apocalypse or at least avoid finding myself among…
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